Take it with the usual grain of salt, but the Pakistani daily, the Nation, is reporting that militants in North Waziristan used Israeli, Czech and U.S. weapons against Pakistani security forces during the recent campaign there. Apparently, the weapons, which include Uzis as well as M-4s fitted with grenade launchers and laser sights, are also widely available on the Punjab weapons market.
According to the article, the presence of the Israeli weapons is what’s really raising eyebrows in Islamabad. I suppose the American weapons are more easily explained. Things have a habit of falling off of trucks, after all. Especially hijacked trucks. But I wouldn’t jump to any nefarious conclusions about the Uzis, either. Black market weapons change hands many times between the factory and the end user. And sadly, these items are all pretty easily procured, as the article itself makes clear.
Question: Is there anything reassuring in the fact that fundamentalist Islamic militants in Pakistan are willing to use Isreali-made weapons?
Note: In case you’re wondering about the title of this post . . . see here and here, then do the math.